Air cooling and circulating device



June 24, 1941; W, L, M R ON 2,249,999

AIR, COOLING AND CIRCULATING DEV ICE Filed Aug. 16, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 24, 1941.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 more particularly pointed out of Fig. 2 with parts omitted;

Patented June 24, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AIR COOLING AND cmcnmrmc nnvrca winsr'anmr in mermm. Application August 16', 19:8, SerialNo. 225,178

Y This invention relates to an air cooling and circulating device and has for its object to provide a new and improved device of this description.

The invention has as a further object to provide an air cooling and circulating device particularly adapted for cooling rooms.

The invention has as a further' object toprovide an air cooling and circulating device which may be, placed in a room and which may be utilized to cool without drafts only the lower part of the room.

The invention has as a further object to pro- I 'vide an air cooling and circulating device in the form of a cabinet which maybe placed in .a

room and which is provided with cooling apparatus which may be operated in such a manner as to store up cold in the cabinet, which cold may be liberated when desired so that the device is ready to operate to at once cool the room when the cooling is desired.

The invention has further objects which are ing description.

Referring now to the drawings: I Fig. 1 is a plan view of one form. of the device embodying the invention in the accompany- Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2-2 ofFig.1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of F1842;

Fig. 5 is asectlonal view taken on line H taken 3n line 5-:

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view through the upper portion of the cabinet; I

Fig. 7 is a view showing the device in a room;

Fig.8isaview asseen fromline 8-2 'ofFlg. 7;

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 6 showing a modified construction. 7

Like numerals refer to like parts throughout Referring now to the drawings wherein I have ,theseveral figures.

illustrated certainforms embodying the invention, there is provided a cabinet I which is preferably a movable cabinet preferably mounted onwheels2sothat itmaybeeasilyand quickly moved about the room. In the lower part of the cabinet I preferably provide a compressor -3 operated by a motor 4. There is a condenser I which is preferably located at the top of the cabinet as shown. This condenser is connected by a pipe! to the compressor through which ,thdliquid fromthecompressorpassestofhe with this chamber 2|. The arrangement is such that air from the upper part of the room passes and the compressor and motor I up'through the passageway 22 to the upper part.

condenser. There is a pipe I which leads from the condenser back to the receiver '8 and con-- ducts the cooled liquid from the condenser back to said receiver. This liquid is then passed through the expansion valve 9 and theme by pipe Ill through the coil II and thence back by pipe l2 to the condenser.

The coil H is located in a tank [3 which contains a refnigerant material such as brine or the like which may be given alow temperature without freezing. This refrigerant material. cryohydrate, may therefore be used to store cold and may be brought to a low temperature. The cryohydrate, when the device is usedfor'cooiing a 7 the pipe I! and the cooling coil i4, and thence through the pipe I8 back into the tank II. There is preferably provided a controlling device which.

consists of the bulb is and which controls the admission of the refrigerant to the evaporator coil II by controlling the expansion valve 9, or inany other suitable manner.

There is a passageway 20 in the cabinet leading from the upper part thereof to the chamber 2| in which the motor and compressor are located. There is anotherpassage 22 connecting down into the chamber 2| tocool thischamber of the room. I prefer to arrange the passageway 20 so that its discharge end into the chamher 2| is .below the lower or admission end of the passageway 22 soas. to facilitate the natural movement of the air down through the eway 20 and up through the passageway 22. This construction is illustrated in Fig. 2,-where the l wer end 2la'of the may 2| is below the" lower end 22a of the Is; r 1 way 22.

The condenser l'is preferablyuncovered, that is; the cabinet at this point isopen at thet op,

and there are one or more eways-ll throughwhich air from the upper th this air coming into contact-with the condenser so'as'to oool'it and then and then passes.

he con-- catching the water distributed or mixe a lower section,

partition 24 which is preferably of heat insulated material. There are one or more openings 25 in the cabinet through which air passes to the cooling coil Hi. This air is cooled by this evaporator and then passes out through one of the openings 26 and is dropped by gravity to the bottom of the room to be cooled. There is an inclined member 21 below the cooling coil forof condensation produced by the cooling coil. This water is conducted by means of a pipe 28 to a tank 29 located in the cabinet. Some means are provided for closing oif the cooling coil [4 to prevent the cold air from dropping into the room to be cooled. This may be done in any desired manner as by means of a door 30, which may be moved down into a recess 3| in the cabinet when it is desired to open it so as to permit cold air to passout into the room.

In Fig. 9 I have shown a modified construction wherein the evaporator 32 is located near the top of the cabinet but is in a compartment 33 which is closed on all sides but is open at the top. The air to be cooled is conducted through one or more openings34 to the evaporator by means of a hood or similar device 35. There is an air moving device 36 located above the evaporator which moves air through the evaporator down into the compartment 33. The air moving device is so arranged that it does not force the cold air out of the compartment 33 but simply moves it down into this compartment, and when the compartment fills up to the edge 3l,- the cold air then spills over the edge and passes out through the opening or openings 38 and drops. by gravity into the lower part of the rbom so that there will be no current produced by the air moving device 36. This cold air, dropping by gravity into the lower part of the room, causes the warmer air in the lower part of the room to rise by thermosyphonic action, forming a zone of cool or conditioned air below the top of the cabinet in the same way as this zone is formed by the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

It will be seen that by means of this device there is provided a cabinet containing a compressor, a condenser and an evaporator, and a cold storage tank or receptacle which provides a large supply of cold refrigerant or eutectic which can be passed through a cooling coil in the top of the cabinet. It will further be seen that there is provided here means for storing cold or cooled air so that it can be released or liberated at a point above the floor of the room when it is desired to' cool the lower part of the room, and. when so liberated, it drops by gravity into this air, there being a stratiflcation of these two sections sothat the warm air in the upper section does not mix with the cold air in the lower section. Furthermore, it is unnecessary to have the walls of the room made of heat insulating material, because the heat which may be in or come through the walls can not get into the cold lower part of the room because it will automatically rise up and pass along the wall and enter the warmer upper section or 'stratification of air in the room. By this means, the efficiency of the cooling device is greatly increased as the cooling only takes place in the lower part of the room. Furthermore, since the room is stratifled, that is, has an upper strata of warm air and a lower strata of cold air, the only air that is cooled is the air in the lower part of the room, and the heat from the breath of the human beings and from their bodies is not cooled but rises upto the upper strata of warm air. Because of this fact, and because of the fact that the warmth from ,the walls of the room does not enter this strata of coil air, this strata of cold air when once produced can be maintained in a cooled condition with very little effort and in a very efilcient manner and at very little cost.

Furthermore,.since the device is run by an electric motor which may be connected with. the ordinary outlet in the room, this permits a small motor to be used which will come within the requiremen'tsof the electric company so that no additional wiring is necessary.

When this device is in use to cool a room, the window is preferably open at the top, as shown at 39, Figs. 7 and 8, so that the warm air produced by the condenser and the human beings in ,the lower part of. the room which rises up I to the top of the room can freely pass out of the open mindow.

The use. and operation of my invention are as follows:

When the cabinet is placed in a room, as shown for .example in Figs. 7 and 8, the refrigerating apparatus may be operated at times when the device is not being used to cool the room so as to lower the temperature of the liquid in the tank l3 without this cool liquid beingused to cool the room. Under these conditions, the door 30 will be moved up so as to close the openings 25 and 26. This operation, for example, might well take place at night when the cost of current is small. It can of course take place at'any suitable time. If the device is used in an ofllce,

lower part of the room, this cold air causing the warmer air in the lower part of the room to rise ings and the warm breath'bre'athed by them risesup by thermos honic action without being the cold air in the bottom of the room is maintained in a purestate for breathing purposes.

It "will further beseen that the room is thus divided into two sections, an upper sectionand with the cold air so-that' the lower section being filled wi h ,coolair, the upper section being filled with warm 75 compressor and motor and then passes up for example, it could be operated at night to cool this liquid in the tank l3, or it could be started up in; the morning so as to be ready to cool the room when the occupants reach the when it is desired to cool the room, the door 30 is then moved down in the osition shown in Fig. 3 so as to open the openings 25 and 26." The cold air in the evaporator compartment Ila then drops down intothe lower part of the room. This immediately provides a source of very cold air which at. once drops into the bottom of the compartment. The liquid which is being, through [the evaporator and ,which has become very cold by the previous operation of the refrigerating apparatus, then quickly cools the air passing into the cabinet through the-openings II and causes .this cold air to drop by avity through the openings 26 into the lower part of the compartment. The air which down l through thepassagewayil is warmed by the aeeaeee lowerpart of the room to rise by thermosyphonic action and forming a zone of conditioned air be- I through the passageway 22 into the upper part of the room. The air from the condenser rises upwards. c

I claim:

1. An air cooling and circulating device comprising a movable cabinet, a compressor in said' cabinet, a tank insaid cabinet containing refrigerant material, an evaporator immersed in said refrigerant material and operatively connected permit the temperature of the refrigerant in said tank to be brought to a low degree to store cold in the cabinet; the closure being opened when it is desired to cool the room, the-cold air, then dropping by gravity into the lower part of the room to quickly cool the lower part of the room, said cooled air causing the warmer air in the lower part of the room to rise by thermosyphonic action and forming a zone of conditioned air below the top of the cabinet, said device to a unitary structure which y be moved to any part of a room.

2. An air cooling and circulating device com- 7 prising a cabinet, a compressor in said cabinet, a

condenser at the top of said cabinet, theosyphonic means for bringing air from the upper part of the room into contact with said condenser to cool it and discharge said air into the upper part of the room, a tank in said cabinet containlow the top of the cabinet. v

\ '3. An air cooling and circulating device comprising a cabinet, a compressor and condenser in said cabinet, a cooling coil in the upper part of said cabinet, an opening in the cabinet having its lower edge below the bottom of said cooling coil,- through which air cooled by the cooling coil drops into the lower part of the room, a closure Y for said opening which holds the cold air in said cabinet and. provides a cold air storage, said cold air when the closure is opened dropping by gravlty into the lower part of the room to quickly cool it, said cold air causing the warmer air in the lower part of the room to rise by thermosyphonic action and forming a zone of cooled air below the top of the cabinet.

4. An air cooling and circulating device comprising a cabinet, a compressor and condenser in said cabinet, a cooling coil in the upper part of said cabinet, an opening in the cabinet through which air cooled by the cooling coil drops into the lower part of the room, a closure for said ope which holds the cold air in said cabinet and provides a cold air storage. said cold air when the closure is opened dropping byv gravity into the lower part of the room to quickly cool it, said cold air causing the warmer air in the lower part or the room to rise by thosyphonic action and for a zone of cooled air below the top of the cabinet, and a storage'compartment in said cabinet for storing the cold refrigerant supplied to 4 said cooling coil.

ing refrigerant ,material, an evaporator immersed in said refrigerant material and operatively connected with said compressor, a cooling coil in the upper part of said cabinetand below said condenser, a connection between said cooling coil and said tank for circulating said refrig-' erant material through said cooling coil, said cabinet being provided with an opening below said condenser through which cold air from said cooling coil is discharged into the lower part of I the room, a movable closure for said opening which may be closed to hold the cold air in said cabinet and permit the temperature of the refrig- ,erant insaid tank to be brought to a low degree to store cold in the cabinet, cold air dropping by gravity into" the lower part of the room to quickly cool said lower part whentheclosure is opened,

said cooled air causing the warmer air inthe 5. An air cooling-and circulating device comprising a cabinet, a compressor and condenser in said cabinet, a cooling coil in the upper part of said cabinet, an opening in the cabinet through which air cooled by the cooling "coil drops into the lower part oi the room, a closure for said opening which holds the cold air in said cabinet and provides a cold air storage, said cold air when the closure-is opened dropping by gravity into the lower part of the room to quickly cool it, said cold air causing the warmer air in the lower part of the room to rise by thermosyphonic action and forming a zone of cooled air below the top oi the cabinet, means inside of the cabinet for conducting the air heated by the compressor to the air in the upper part of the room without mixing with the cooled air in the cooled zone, and a storage compartment in said cabinet for storing the cold refrigerantsupplied to said cooling coil.

1 I 1.. MORRISON. 

